"Thirty five murders can be directly linked to the drug trade," he said. "We believe that number could be even higher based on what our investigations have shown."

Authorities said they believe they arrested the leader of the drug operation. Multiple agencies helped with the case and Allender says they were able to take down “serious players.”

"They dealt various quantities of cocaine in both powder and crack cocaine form," he said. "We, through a series of buys and informants and so forth, were able to determine who was supplying most of the cocaine and who was the nexus around which everything revolved."